Makenna Chapter ONE
by mAkeNna.bLaCk
Summary: Makenna is a mind reader, who finds both humans and her talent irritating. And then she meets Riley, another mind-reader, who makes her life even more annoying. And then something will happen... blah blah. Rated K  for possible foul language later on...
1. Chapter 1

I laid my head against the aluminium table, letting my black tresses fan around me. I closed my eyes, bored, wishing I could sleep. A gaggle of human girls blabbered around me, their voices, mental and physical, filling my mind. I tried to ignore the thoughts, and tried to concentrate on the actual words.

Try as hard as I may, I still heard.

Rebecca Marshall- with the loudest mental voice at the table, was, like most of the others, thinking of the new arrival, another human boy, about to join our school after lunch with his sister. Wondering how cute he would be, what music he would like-the usual, most of which I had already heard. It took so little to work up these humans. The girls, already imagining going out with the stranger, the guy who they hadn't even seen, and the boys... The boys.

They had been a constant problem ever since I had moved to this dreary town, overly optimistic, and impossible to discourage. The little fantasies they came up with in their simple minds were not just hopeless and unrealistic, they were disgustingly sick. They made me want to get up and leave-which I did on many occasions before I killed someone in irritation. Not joking.

I smiled grimly to myself whenever I thought of telling them what would happen, if my ice cold lips, got anywhere near theirs. Total massacre.

Only one thought I tried to ignore out of privacy, rather than boredom. My twin, Derek, sitting with his girlfriend, and sometimes-wife, Jasmine. The only other two vampires at my table-in this room. Jasmine, of course I couldn't hear, due to her special vampire 'talent'. But I could hear Derek, because right now she wasn't shielding his mind as usual.

Both of them laughed at the constant plague of boys that asked me out, finding my irritation hilarious. What I found more annoying was that no-body asked them, just as beautiful as I was. I had contemplated this issue many times, and decided it was because, when you saw them looking at each other you couldn't imagine them with anyone else. Even though it had been nearly three hundred years now since my brother had found Jasmine, they still looked at each other with the love-at-first-sight look in their eyes. It made me jealous sometimes, thinking that I might never find the one I wanted to be with other than my adopted mother Mezmi, her husband Peter, or Derek and Jasmine.

A thought interrupted mine.

_I'd better do it._

I groaned softly as I saw the root of this new thought. Again?

Then the voice accompanied the thoughts, from across the noisy cafeteria. "I'm going to ask." Grinned Paul Davidson to his friends, overconfident. They all broke into loud cheers, which even the human girls at the table could hear, looking up, curious, and distracted from their babble.

I didn't bother lifting my head, instead watching irritably inside others minds as Paul crossed the linoleum, a group of his friends swarming around him, all eager. I realized they thought he was brave. Half of his friends themselves had been turned down frequently by me.

A few thoughts from my own table were directed at me viciously. Paul was one of the 'cute' guys that almost everyone had a crush on.

_I bet he wants to ask out Makenna... why the hell do the guys all like her..._ Rebecca again, shooting daggers at me, was so jealous that her face, in theory, should be bright emerald. She and her friends only stuck around me for convenience, as I was a popular target for attention. I sighed, reluctantly looking up at Paul's confident smile, as he crossed the halfway mark.

Instead of crossing all the way around the table, he leaned over it, looking at me, before he asked. His friends surrounded him in a loose semi circle.

"Hey, Makenna." He flashed a grin at me. I smiled back coldly, and felt his thoughts go into a flutter.

_Whoa. Man, she's hot... ... what was I asking?... Oh... right..._I waited for him to gather them.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out." He told me brightly. I raised one eyebrow. What a huge ego these humans had. He took in my expression wrongly- he thought I was confused, not disgusted.

_...that wasn't really a question, I guess..._

"We could go to Port Angeles Friday." He suggested hopefully. Then he cursed himself internally.

_Stupid... that wasn't a question either._

"So how about it?" he grinned, everyone silent, waiting for my answer, several groups from other tables also waiting, having drifted over curiously.

I drew out the word slowly, pretending I was speaking to a moron-which I was, so it didn't have t pretend very hard. A few months ago, when I'd first moved to this hell hole of a school, I had apologized to everyone, thinking of excuses quickly. Not now.

"No."

I watched his face falter, no longer confident. But he didn't give up. A few people were grinning, others glaring jealously at him, so he ignored them.

"You sure?" He asked morosely.

I nodded, folding my arms across my chest and glaring. This time he did recognize my expression, and it sent him back tracking. He did a quick two steps back, his friends unconsciously moving with him. _Crap. She hates me... well she still might. Other girls ask all the time..._

"Come talk to me if you change your mind." He hurried out of the lunch room- not bothering to go sit down at his table, people already tittering at the embarrassed look on his face. The chatty girls at my table started giggling, even Rebecca, swelling out the conversation to include me.

"Why'd you say no?" Demanded Hannah Fitchett. "I would of totally said yes, I mean he's like the hottest guy in our school, well except for Sam..." she trailed off, thinking of Sam, her new infatuation that she had taken to like after Paul had turned her down. Then she looked back me, curiosity lighting up and sparking inside her misty blue eyes.

I shrugged, a human gesture suggesting nonchalance.

"I don't like him." I said plainly, as if it were obvious. "I don't see why everyone likes him so much-he's just a guy."

"Just a guy?" Hannah almost screeched in disbelief. Her friends were all looking at me like I was crazy, beneath the admiration and shyness most humans felt in my presence. Hannah continued to gossip, and I pretended to listen, while wishing I could of skipped high school this year, gone to Alaska or something, where Mezmi could of 'homeschooled' me. But no, she'd insisted that I'd attend high school, for the tenth time this century.

Boring.

The teachers at this school were worse than the usual, not even remarkably intelligent for their kind, half had hardly scraped an 'Achieved' in their high school tests. And Mr Peake? He never managed to teach our biology class anything that would surprise someone holding three graduates in medical school.

The bell rang, sharp and unpleasant, signalling time for lessons. I sighed as girls around me started getting up. I stood up fluidly, pulling my satchel with me easily. It was stuffed with books- props again, like my food tray, which I proceeded to dump in the bins next to my table.

I pretended to stretch, adding a small yawn. I headed to class, not bothering to wait for any of the humans as they dawdled around, chatting.

I hurried down the corridors, with the usual traffic of humans, hoping that they wouldn't pay any attention to me.

That was always a ridiculous hope.

Boys stared after me, their mouth dropping in wonder, while girls shot me jealous looks. Soon I was surrounded by a plague of idiotic humans-mostly boys. I sighed and picked up my pace, so half of them were running to catch up. I growled under my breath. I stuck to my slow pace, wishing I could run away, so fast that their slow human eyes couldn't follow me.

I heard Derek and Jasmine's tittering laughs, beautiful to a human, annoying to me, as they caught a glimpse of me. Jasmine was shielding Derek's mind protectively again, so I couldn't get a read on either of their thoughts. I hoped that jasmine wasn't listening to mine.

That had been an annoying habit of hers when she had discovered her talent. When she shielded someone, whoever she was shielding them against talent backfired. So, if she wanted to, she could now read my mind.

That sucked.

I turned sharply into my biology class, where my little crowd of humans stared after me as I took my seat, wanting to follow. I opened my book and hid my face in it. One by one the humans realised the time and hurried away. Grr.

I waited for my class to arrive. I had arrived early in my haste to get away from the humans. I sat trying to think of nothing, ignoring the now-faint mental voices of teenagers in the corridor.

I wished I could sleep, though I hadn't in over five hundred years since I had been changed.

This was the closest thing I got to sleep really. Not thinking, not moving.

I sighed.

The second bell rang, as shrill as the first. The class started to gradually fill up, humans walking in, chatting to their friends, lingering at others desks while they waited for the teacher to come.

The space beside mine stayed empty, and I glared at anyone who began to sit down at my table. I was lucky that we had odd numbers in this class-in nearly every one of my classes, so usually I got an empty table space beside me.

By the time everyone was seated, Mr Peake had distributed a book on cellular anatomy to each table, and was writing instructions on the board.

I concentrated on blocking out everyone's thoughts.

Mr Peake turned from the board, about to give instructions. At that moment, the classroom door opened, sending a gush of air from the corridor.

An unfamiliar mind entered the room, and every girl in the room turned to look at the new boy, and their thoughts went un-comprehendible. I stiffened in my chair as I listened to the new arrival, and saw his face in every human's head.

…_stupid humans._ I turned slowly, hoping for him to look different in reality than in people's minds.

I whipped my head back to the front, to fast for anyone to see. Impossible.

I continued to look at his mind. He hadn't noticed that he wasn't the only vampire in the room yet, luckily. He hadn't noticed that I'd noticed him, that I knew what he was.

But the only empty seat in the room was the one beside mine. He wouldn't take long to realize that I was not human.

My skin, as icy and as pale as his, my eyes, black with thirst, my voice, the inhumane beauty… they would all give me away, as they had given him away.

Barely a had second had passed, the human girls' eyes following him as he took another step to the front.

Darn it! What could I do?

Suddenly his head turned to look at me. His expression was wary. A dozen emotions flickered across his face. Shock. Fear. Disbelief. He smoothed his expression and looked back to the front.

His thoughts were careful, planning, like me.

What could I do to make him leave our territory? If he hunted in my range… I continued to think hard while he introduced himself to the teacher, and Mr Peake sent him to sit beside me. There was no-where else for him to go.

He walked down the aisle to sit down, and I tried unsuccessfully to block the human thoughts so I could concentrate on his alone. Unsuccessful because, they wouldn't shut up.

I glanced up as he sat guardedly down beside me. He was still planning.

At least he didn't know that I could see what he saw…

His eyes darted quickly to mine and back to the table in a millisecond, and I gasped quietly in shock.

No way! Uh-uh. This did _not_ happen! You did _not_ get two vampires with the same talent. But then how come I could hear his thoughts, scrambled in disbelief like mine? How come I could hear an echo of my thoughts inside his head.

_She can't! Impossible! But I can hear myself in her head… _He searched my head, listening to himself. _This is _weird_._

Really weird. Not natural. I heard him as he search my head and stiffened.

Get the hell out! No-one ever went in my head- even Jasmine was strictly off limits. I shoved at him inside my head, resenting the intrusion. _My _head. If he didn't keep out I would seriously kill him right now.

Who was he anyway? What was he doing on _my_ territory?

_I'm Riley. _I gritted my teeth in frustration. He was still picking thoughts out of my head. I tried not to think, and failed. Instead I drove into his mind. He stiffened like I had. And I smiled grimly as I discovered a new piece of information. I had an advantage,

Though we shared the same talent, mine was stronger than his. He couldn't do what I was doing now. He could only read what was going through my head at the moment. He couldn't dig through my head and pull out memories like I was inside his.

I listened, not concentrating on the lesson that was going on around me, to his memories, trying to find out more about him.

His name was Riley, he was part of a three person coven. Another advantage. If we had to fight to get his coven off our hunting range, at least our coven was bigger. I heard him listen to my new information with interest. I realized that he was trying to find out more about me as I was him and cursed myself for slipping up.

I tried to find out why they had come here.

In my mind, I saw a vampire fly at a human across a classroom, watching through his eyes as he tried to stop her.

"_Lily!" I yelled as she sprang out of her desk at the human. I tried grab her arm, and the human cowered at the furious look on Lily's face. Wild, bloodthirsty, out of control. The thirst was overwhelming her. She let out a high snarl, and several humans started to run for the doors. She grabbed the human girl._

_What was I supposed to do? I was barely in control of myself, and Lily was making it worse. The venom on my mouth flowed freely, and my muscles bunched in apprehension. Twin thirsts, as I heard her out of control thoughts._

_No! A silent voice in my head screamed. Control yourself, Riley!_

_I ignored the smell of human blood, cutting off my air supply. I cleared my head, and ran over to Lily and the human. The human was dead, obviously. Lily had snapped her neck._

_Lily was trying to get past me at the humans in the doorway who were, frozen in shock while staring at their dead classmate._

_I wrapped my arms around her, restraining._

_I felt the shock go through my body and my eyes rolled back into my head slightly as she shocked me again, the taser-like electricity searing through me. My knees buckled, and I let go of her, gasping. She sprinted at the doorway…_

Hm. Interesting. I ran over the vampire 'Lily''s talent again. She had electrified him. How? I dug for more information. Another memory. Earlier than the first.

…_.I looked at the blond haired vampire sceptically._

"_Electrify people?"_

_She smiled smugly. I listened to the explanation in her head. It was confusing. It seemed like she ran a current through her body. She projected it from her palms so whenever someone touched her… Zap. I shuddered at some of the memories of people-humans and vampires alike, fell to the ground, twitching while screaming in agony._

"_Uh-huh."I said, still listening. "I get it."_

_She grinned, cheekily this time and raised her hand towards me. "Interested?"_

_I dodged out of the way. "No thanks."…._

An electric current? I wondered if it would effect Jasmine- I quickly redirected my thoughts as I realized I had slipped up again. Crap.

I swiftly searched for another memory to distract myself, wondering who the other member of the his coven was. I got the impression that he and Lily weren't the leaders…

_He turned around to face me, his black, thirsty eyes questioning._

"_What happened?" he asked calmly._

"_Lily." I didn't want to say it, I didn't want to admit that I had let Lily get out of control. I didn't want to tell him about the massacre Lily had made in our History class._

_His thoughts were suddenly alarmed. "What happened? Is she okay? Where is she?"_

_I sighed. "She got out of control."_

_He groaned, but his face relaxed slightly, understanding. He would go comfort our youngest member of the coven later. Little Lily. She struggled the most with what we were, struggled the most when it was time to resist the feed. I cursed myself again. This was my entire fault. I should have kept control of lily, should have watched her closer. I heard Hamish cursing himself too, realizing, too late, that he should have played the role of junior high school like me and Lily, not gone of to college, pretending to take care of his orphaned younger brother and sister._

_I sighed again._

I wondered whether this 'Hamish' did anything special. I tried to search for more information. They had two gifted vampires in their coven. It was my job to find out this sort of thing, the advantages we had against our enemies, the weaknesses, whether a human suspected what we were…I found nothing to suggest that their leader had a talent other than, never ending calm.

Good. We had the advantage then. I was very careful not to think how we had the disadvantage, so that this blond haired Riley couldn't be clued in…

The bell rang, and I jumped, so mixed in his memories that I had forgotten where I was.

I hastily shoved my books in my bag, not being as careful as I should. I heard the seam tear.

Damn.

I pulled them back out again and kicked my now useless prop under the seat. Clutching my books to my chest, I fled the room, trying not to think of the vampire boy staring after me.

_Yeah… This is only my second fic… and the first totally FAILED, so be nice, or whateva…. Just Review _

_-mAkEnNa_


	2. Chapter 2

I heard my brother's wild thoughts before I saw him or Jasmine.

_No way! That girl was one of us! I'm sure! Shit, what are we going to do? I have to find Makenna _now_! Why did they have to come here? Maybe she knows something. Hopefully her coven isn't that big…._ I saw the image in his head of the girl in Riley's coven, frozen with shock as she looked across the room at Derek and Jasmine. jasmine had automatically shielded his mind… She was shielding both of us now, and I could hear Derek because he was under her umbrella, like me.

I spotted them up ahead in the congested hallway, and hurried over to them, weaving between the crowds of students.

"Jazz! Derek!" I said, knowing they would hear me above the babble. They turned at the sound of my voice, eyes alarmed.

"Kenna, there you are. Did you see her? The vampire girl?"

I reached them and we hurried out of the school building as I answered Jasmine's question.

"No. I didn't see the girl. But there's another one, Riley. They have three in their coven, the female is called Lily, and their leader is called Hamish. I don't know if he's at school with them…"

We reached our car, and Derek threw himself into the driver's side urgently, and had the key turned and was weaving out of the car park in the same second.

"Talents? Do they have any talents?" pressed Jasmine, looking at Derek with an anxious expression.

I explained about Lily's talent, what I had felt in Riley's memories.

"Electric current? Do you know if it's physical or an illusion? Would it work against Jasmine?" Derek was panicky, over-protective of his soul mate, like most of our kind. He couldn't stand the idea of her getting hurt.

I shook my head. "I don't know. I couldn't think of anything that would give them an advantage. The male I saw-he reads minds too."

"What? Impossible!" They protested at the same time, lo0oking alarmed. Then Derek spoke alone. "You don't get vampires with the same talent!"

"I know. That's what I thought too. But I could hear myself inside his mind-he could hear me- it was beyond weird. " I paused. "I _am _stronger at it than him. He can't read memories- only what's going through your head at the moment."

Jasmine and Derek still looked alarmed, but not as much as before, now realizing that we would have the advantage- because they didn't know much about us- only that I read minds- and they did that too.

Jasmine spoke again, Derek now racing along the dirt road, doing 150 mph.

"Does their leader- Hamish- does he have a talent too?"

"I found nothing in Riley's memories that suggested so. I don't think he is talented."

They both sighed with relief.

The tires screeched as Derek skidded into the twisted driveway.

"What are we going to do?" ''I asked quietly.

They didn't answer.

We leapt out in the garage, Derek calling for Peter and Mezmi to come quickly. He used only the amount of volume used in regular conversation.

I heard them up stairs, Mezmi shuffling paper. Derek called again, urgently, although they had already heard.

They appeared at the top of the stairs assessing the panicked look on all three of our faces.

_Makenna? Derek? Jasmine? What? Oh, shit. What happened?_

"What happened?" Mezmi called, alarmed, speeding towards us. Peter came more slowly, his eyes darting around the trees, searching for the danger.

Derek answered Mezmi. "There's a new bunch."

"Three of them." Added Jasmine quietly. "Two males and a female."

"Talents?" Demanded Peter.

Derek and Jasmine both looked to me.

"Makenna?" Asked Peter.

I sighed. "The girl- her name is Lilly. She electrocutes people. When she touches them, they get a shock." Peter nodded ad I continued. "The leader, Hamish, has no talent all-that I was able to find out. And it was difficult because Riley-he's the other one- he-"

"Reads minds!" Derek finished. "He reads bloody minds! Just like Makenna!"

"Not just like." Jasmine reminded him in her small voice. "Just what going through their head at the time."

I sank to the ground, overwhelmed by the rush of thoughts that hit me.

"Stop it!" I cried out. "Stop it! I can't think! Shut up!"

Everyone hushed their yells in their heads, suddenly sympathetic. They all understood how difficult my gift was.

"Makenna." Mezmi asked me quietly, getting down on her knees beside me. "Please tell us everything-we'll try keep quiet." Her voice was as compassionate as ever.

I took a deep breath. "They came here because their youngest member, Lily, lost control at their last school, in front of a whole classroom of humans. She killed one, and Riley was trying to restrain her, but she kept shocking him… and she ended up killing the whole class. SO they left."

I frowned, realising how little information I had actually received in the whole half hour. Pathetic. I was losing my touch.

Mezmi looked sympathetic, worrying for the girl who'd lost control.

"Poor kid." Peter muttered. He was slightly disgusted that their coven leader had abandoned his coven and let one lose control.

Derek was still fuming over Riley being able to read minds-he'd always considered my gift better than any of the others in our coven. Better than Peter's lie sensing gift, better than Jasmine's shield, better than Mezmi's mood changing ability, and even better than his own illusionist powers.

My gift meant that I could see into the minds of our enemies. I could tell when a human suspected us of not being human-I could predict that we should leave. I could hear people nearby when we went hunting. I could hear those who spied on us…

And now there was another who could do all that. Who could see into the minds of us and find out our weaknesses.

That really bugged him. And then there was Lily-he was scared for Jasmine. What if her gift didn't keep her safe from Lily's shocks? He couldn't bear to think of Jasmine in pain.

Jasmine was just as silent to me as always. Peter was now planning, all the strategist. He didn't mind that we might have to hurt the three vampires to drive them away. That was the way of life for him. If you didn't fight hard enough, you lost everything.

He knew we would win. We had the most gifts. If Jasmine could with stand Lily's gift, we'd win definitely. If not… we had numbers.

_We'll force them out. We could wipe them out all together, but I don't think that'll be necessary. I mean- Derek, Jasmine and Makenna might have scared hem off for good already…_

I stood up and walked into the house. My mind was exhausted with all these thoughts.

I walked into my room and collapsed onto the sofa, in a human way. I could still hear everything that was going on outside, as if I was still there.

Derek was being overly pessimistic. He stayed outside until it went dark. When he came inside, he still wasn't the same. He was edgy, jumpy, following Jasmine closely everywhere, as if he was protecting her again, as he had when she had been human, over four centuries ago.

I hadn't been able to read her mind even then, when I had first met her, in a dungeon in a werewolf castle. Everything had been much more complicated then. But werewolves were gone now- last we had heard they were savage in China and The Volturi were seeing to them. I hoped so. Werewolves were vile.

Peter and Mezmi were sitting side by side on the loveseat, doing nothing. The sense of urgency there had been when we had first arrived home was calmed by Mezmi. She was trying to stop us from panicking and going crazy.

Jasmine looked strained through Derek's mind. She was overloaded trying to shield so many people at once.

_I can't hear anybody. That's weird of them to go hunting when they know we're in the area. Or maybe they've left. Maybe they decided we were too much of a threat. _

I sat up, alarmed. That was Riley's mental voice. I sped downstairs into the lounge. Mezmi stood up as she sensed my mood. "What is it?" The others watched me, also standing up.

"I hear someone else. I'm pretty sure its Riley and his coven."

Everyone ran outside, listening for the three vampires. I heard Riley explaining how he couldn't hear anyone, I heard Hamish telling him that he might not be close enough to hear anything. I also heard Lily, warily staking along beside them.

"They are all there." I muttered. Jasmine nodded. She must be listening too.

"Riley wont be able to hear us." She whispered. "He can't hear us at the moment. They're coming closer-they think he's too far away to hear anything. What should I do?"

Peter took charge. "Put down your shield. They can't know about your gift. No body else think of any talents at all. They can't know we have an advantage."

"That wont work. They'll know that something is up with me if Riley cant hear me." Jasmine protested quietly.

"That doesn't matter. They won't know that you can shield others, at least. That's the main thing."

Jasmine nodded. "Ok. No body think of talents now. They're coming." I could tell when she released the shield- Riley's thoughts automatically grew stronger with surprise.

He informed Hamish that he could hear us. Hamish told him to keep moving forwards till the reached us.

I could already hear their footsteps. They weren't talking anymore. Mezmi shuddered as she heard them too. Peter stiffened, and Derek moved slightly in front of Jasmine, shielding her while also hiding her from sight.

The three vampires came into view, from the exact direction we were facing. I kept my face blank, standing to the right side of Mezmi. I noticed Riley looking at me, and scowled in his direction. Idiot.

He grinned as he heard me. _Her again. _He took in the others._ I wonder if they do anything special. _He intruded on Derek, then Mezmi, ad Peter.

Strangely, he ignored Jasmine like she wasn't there.

_Jasmine?_

I scowled. And now he was eavesdropping on me! I growled slightly. He seriously didn't get that my head was _out of bounds._

But right now he was frowning at Jasmine, who was peeking out from behind Derek. Derek glared at him threateningly at moved closer to Jasmine.

_I know you're listening, Riley. You're like my sister-but you better stay _away_ from Jasmine. You better. Who cares if she's a little bit different? It's not her fault that something's screwed up in her brain. _

I almost laughed, ad then remembered he was trespassing in my head, and tried to think sadly. Poor Jasmine. She didn't think like others. I hated whoever had done that to her when she was a human. And I hated the vampire who had changed her. It was so cruel to change a disabled person- now Jasmine would be like that forever…mentally challenged.

Riley averted his eyes, ashamed._ Man, that must suck. However did that to her really_ is_ stupid. I wonder why they changed her in the first place. Maybe he was trying to cure her or something. I guess it didn't work…_

His eyes darted forwards as Peter stepped forwards.

"Good Evening." He said coldly.

Hamish nodded. "Hello."

"We know why you have come here, but we would appreciate it if you would leave. This is our territory. "

Hamish smiled. "And what if we have no intention of leaving?" He thought he had an advantage, his thoughts focused on Lily.

"We'll force you out." Peter replied frostily.

Riley spoke up. "What's wrong with us staying? We won't cause problems."

"Too many of us in one area, an humans begin to suspect. Besides, we've heard of your reasons for coming here. We wouldn't want a repeat. " Peter looked at Lily, who growled, glaring at him.

"We wouldn't hunt in your range." He insisted.

Peter raised his eyebrows. "You might not be able to resist. Like I said, you've lost control before."

"We weren't being careful enough." insisted Riley. "She wouldn't have done it if I'd watched her closer."

Lily hissed at him. _Don't! They don't need to know everything. _

Derek spoke. "You _can't _control her." He reminded him. I filled my own head with Riley's own memory- him grabbing Lily, Lily shocking him, Riley collapsing on the floor…

"You can't." Derek said, "So it's not safe. Humans don't need to die unnecessarily. He glanced at Jasmine. Her tiny face was sad.

_Oops. I shouldn't have reminded her! _He held her hand, looking at her sympathetically.

Lily's face was blank. She was thinking of the other times she had lost control. _The black haired boy is right. _She realised. _No matter how hard they try, I always ruin everything…_

Peter growled, half slinking into a crouch. "So you won't leave?" He demanded.

The other three sank full into positions. "No." Hamish replied.

Riley was anxious, probably for Lily.

He looked at me. _What? Why would I be anxious for Lily? She can defend herself fine. __What? Why would I be anxious for Lily? She can defend herself fine. _He paused, listening to himself in my head. _Seriously. That is so weird. _

I sank into a crouch, echoing the rest of my covens. Only Jasmine stood back, against the wall of the house, her eyes wide. Her small frame trembled.

Peter was controlled, waiting to give Jasmine the command, Mezmi was blank, trying her hardest not to mess with the moods around her. Derek was ready to send invading thought into Riley's head. Judging be Jasmines edginess, she was also waiting for the order Peter was about to give.

_Now, Jasmine!_ Peter commanded. Riley looked confused hearing the order. _Does Jasmine read minds too? What the hell? _

And then Jasmine cloaked us. I smirked at the horrified expression on Riley's face. _What? No way! That must be the girl- Jasmine. Shit!_

"Get the Jasmine girl first." He muttered to Hamish quietly. Derek stiffened. He growled menacingly at Riley.

All three of them lunged at us. I saw Lily, palms out, preparing to shock Mezmi. As her palms came into contact with Mezmi's skin, Lily rocked back on her heels, collapsing. She shrieked as she felt the power of her gift for the first time. Derek ran at Riley, but Hamish intercepted him. Derek sent blindness into Hamish's mind. Hamish gasped, his eyes going blank. Riley looked from him to Lily, panting in the dirt. He looked unsure of what to do. I stalked forwards towards him.

He didn't even seem to hear me coming. I growled and he turned, surprised.

I lunged at him, sidestepping as he tried to dive at me. He was weak without his gift. He'd never had to fight before without it. He'd always been able to anticipate what was going to happen seconds before.

And I was a fighter. With and without my gift, I could kill. I had Riley pinned in seconds. He didn't resist.

Derek released Hamish.

His eyes widened. He seemed frozen with delayed shock for a second. Then he grinned. "I guess we've lost." He shrugged. "It seems you have quite a few gifts of your own." He eyed Jasmine and Derek. "We'll leave. Tonight." Even his thoughts sounded sincere.

But Peter growled. "Don't try lying to us. It won't work. You _will _leave. You will get as far away as possible"

Hamish looked at him. "You're one of those lie sensors?" He ran his hand through his hair. And looked at me "And you read minds." He glanced at Mezmi._ She doesn't have a gift. But she's second in command. She owns all the others…_His eyes ran over Derek and Jasmine again._ She can make them do whatever she wants. She doesn't need a gift. _

I snorted. Hamish looked at me. He wasn't used to having anyone but Riley in his head. Then he glanced back at Mezmi. _Does she have a gift too? Amazing. _

Mezmi crouched down beside Lily, still dazed on the ground. I felt the flood of peace that went through Lily's body, erasing the shock and anger. Lily sat up.

"Moods?" She asked calmly. "But… I shocked you and…"she frowned peacefully.

"Jasmine." Riley said from where I had him held. "She's got a shield." He struggled under my tight grip. He held him tighter where he was. _Man. I suck at fighting. Why does a _girl _have to be better than me? _He shot a glance at me. I looked at him, an eyebrow raised. I wished Jasmine would let me go. As soon as I thought it I heard myself in Derek's head again.

I waited expectantly.He just had to ask and I'd let him go. He groaned, rolling his eyes.

_Could you let me go, now? Please? _I ignored him, a faint smile on my lips. _Pretty please? With a cherry on top?_

I laughed and stood up, getting off him. He grinned back, standing up.

"Thanks."

I went to stand by Jasmine. She gave me a small smile. Derek sent me an illusion-Riley, Lily and Hamish leaving. There was a thought attached to it. _They have to leave now, right? _He was hopeful.

"Yes."

I noticed Riley's eyes on me, and looked in another direction, ignoring him completely. His thoughts were tinged with admiration and something else… Shut up! I commanded myself. Who cared what he was thinking?

_I _did. Why? Shut up!

Oh great, now I was having conversations with myself.

_She cares what I'm thinking? Why? She doesn't want me to know what she's thinking? She really is… Shut up! _

And he was doing it too. Neither of us were used to having to shield our thoughts. I suddenly felt sorry for the rest of my coven, who ways had secrets they were trying to hide from me-I always intruded.

I frowned. Riley was frowning too, as he realised that he, too was an intruder. Neither of us could turn off our gift.

I sat down where I was, crossing my legs and putting my arms in my lap. I half listened as Peter and Hamish tried to work out an arrangement. Peter wanted them to leave as soon as possible, but Hamish insisted upon having a week or so to prepare. The humans would be suspicious if they left without explanation.

Jasmine sank down to the ground beside me, still pointlessly shielding Derek. It didn't matter if Riley read his mind now. But she was stubborn.

I glanced at Riley; he was watching me, a small- smile? – On his face. _I don't want to leave. _He was thinking. He was also surprised by that thought, trying to figure out why. He looked away from me into the trees.

Strangely, I didn't want them to- shut up! This was so _annoying_. And I'd thought it was bad to always be in other people's heads. The never-ending chatter. But this was worse; to have someone in your head and _know _they were listening to you.

Riley grinned.

Jeez.

_OK… That were chapter two… very strange…. Yarrrrpppp…. Please review, and I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Thank ya all._

-mAkEnNa


	3. Chapter 3

School. The most unexciting part of my day, and unfortunately, the longest.

But today, classes could not just be described only as boring or dull. No, now on top of all the tediousness, they were immensely irritating. Somehow Riley's mind was _always _there, listening to me, even from across the entire school block.

I tried to ignore him, but it was impossible, so I resorted to insults, and childish name calling. I longed for the day to end so my mind would be free…

I scowled at the table, head in my hands. Stupid, stuck-up jerk. Who was he to come _here_, just to torture me with his idiotic optimism?

The humans kept trying to talk to me, but today what went on in my head seemed far more interesting and real than whatever it was they were trying to say, so instead I found myself answering the questions in their minds before they evn answered them.

_What's up with Makenna?_

"I'm fine. I just feel kind of-" I shut my mouth as everyone looked at me strangely.

_What?_

"Never mind." I sighed. And then glared as he laughed inside his head at me.

Go away, you mind-intruding moron, I thought, shutting my eyes in frustration.

This had to be one of the worst days of my life.

I felt the mental smirk from across the cafeteria. Oh, so he was _happy _to be ruining my week, was he? Thank god I wouldn't have to put up with this all year! Just two more weeks, Makenna… I groaned inwardly. Two more weeks of _this?_ Oh, hell…

Another smirk.

Honestly, how come _he _could put up with this? Why was it _me_ who had to be so frustrated? He was obviously just ignoring me, but somehow I couldn't do the same.

_You gotta admit this is dead hilarious, though, _Riley laughed.

Oh, yeah? It might seem funny to him, the person who wasn't even _trying _not to listen to me. _GO AWAY, YOU IDIOT! _

To have some in your head, and _know _they were listening to your every thought, and-even better- hear their smug reactions to those thoughts… it was so freaking _maddening! _

_Relax, Makenna. I'm not _that _annoying, seriously. _

Grrr… Why, oh _why _wouldn't Jasmine shield my mind? I glared at her, where she was sitting next to Derek, chatting.

_It's a good lesson. You honestly need to learn to-_

SHUT UP, RILEY!

_-chill. _He finished. I glared at him across the cafeteria.

Derek was laughing in his head now, too. My gaze switched to him and he shut up at once.

_Sorry, Kenna… But you should calm down. He's not _doing _anything. Just ignore him._

I scowled disbelievingly.

_Yeah, listen to your brother. Honestly, _I'm _not the only person that can't keep out of other's heads-_

Shut _up_, Riley. I looked pleadingly at Derek.

No_, Makenna. He's not doing anything wrong._

I looked back at Riley's table. He turned and winked at me, grinning. I scowled and looked back at my own table.

I tried, as Derek had suggested to ignore the moron. I tried. I tried to focus on the thoughts at my table only.

_And… you failed. _Grinned Riley, and I got up from the table and stalked away in frustration.

Next day, the new intruder of my mind discovered a few other things that frustrated me, as I arrived at my first period class with a fan club, mainly consisting of guys around me.

Of course, _he _was there, smirking, and just happening to be next to the only available seat left in the room, as I left them all gawping in the corridor. I sat down reluctantly next to him, tilting my chair deliberately away from him.

But of course, I could see his smirk.

I hate you, I told him in my head.

_Who? Me, or the guy you're watching across the room? _

I sighed.

_He's looking at you._

I scowled at Blake, and looked at the floor.

Frustratingly, when the teacher started talking, I couldn't pay attention. As Riley made smug comment after smug comment, I suddenly stood up, and walked out in the middle of the lecture.

And then at lunchtime, _again_, he was pestering me.

_Those girls you sit with are so pathetic. Listen to that curly haired one. Obsessed with guys, all of them… _

Gritting my teeth, I replied. _I _do not sit with _them. They _sit with _me_. It's called popularity, and it makes no sense at all.

_Who's that guy coming over to your table? _

I groaned. Again? I looked. Yes. _Again._ Jake Davidson- brother of the guy who'd asked on Monday. Deep black eyes, dark brown hair, and one of the most disgusting minds at this school.

_Seems like you know him. _Observed Riley, smirking, and turning to watch along with half the cafeteria.

Jake, more popular, and far more cherished by the girls at this school than his brother. Yes, I knew him.

Everyone was looking at my table as he came up to me, even the sophomores, who honestly shouldn't care.

_Lucky… _

_Bet he asks _her…

_What a git, she is _so _not interested in _him…

I stood up and walked out of the cafeteria, dumping my tray in the bin as I went.

I heard tittering laughs as Jake was left in the middle of the cafeteria, looking like a total moron. I heard his astonished thoughts- he'd thought he'd had a chance this time.

_You really have a way with guys, _Riley laughed. _So many déjà vu cases back here… _

I scowled, considering ditching the afternoon- but I'd already ditched my morning calculus…

To hell with it. I started to run. Actually run, to be away from Riley, the humans, everyone.

"I _cannot _cope with him another week and a half." I complained, throwing myself onto the couch angrily, after yet _another _whole day of torment.

Derek smiled. "I'm surprised you're coping so well."

I scowled at him.

_However, that expression is becoming permanently fixed to your face, _he observed, and I leaned back and shut my eyes.

I could still hear the voices, but not _his _voice, so I was fine… until tomorrow. I moaned and shoved my face into a pillow, trying to suffocate myself. Of course it didn't work.

"Please_, please, _shield my mind tomorrow." I pleaded, my voice muffled against the pillow.

"I don't think so." Murmured Jasmine from out of her book.

"Why?"

"It's a good experience for you. Now you know how everyone else feels when _you're _in their head-"

I removed the pillow. "Yes, I _know_. I knew already. So, please, Jasmine?"

She looked up at me from her book critically. "- and also you need to learn to control your temper."

I looked at her blankly. Really, she was tiny. So how could someone so small, be so immensely _stubborn, _and overall, _annoying?_

"Oh, come _on_, Jasmine!" I said, exasperated. "I've been like this for what, almost four hundred years now? I'm _so_ going to change over some moron like Riley!"

"That's the spirit, Makenna." Murmured Jasmine, turning a page in her book. "Stay positive, that's the trick."

Derek was grinning.

Oh, _ha, ha. _Very funny. I stormed out of the house, sweeping past Mezmi as she arrived home, and sprinting into the forest.

I ran until there were no voices in my head. And then scaled a towering Sitka spruce, sat near the top and shut my eyes.

Silence. Blissful, sweet silence.

Only me, the birds, and the wind. The tree swayed gently, as night fell around me, and an owl started to call. And the silence in my head stretched on and on… I could stay here forever, wrapped in the night, totally alone.

My mind stretched out, over to the mountains, toward civilization, north, south, east and west, as far as I could, so my mind was spread in a web listening. There were no thoughts but mine for miles.

So I didn't think.

My eyes snapped open in irritation. I traced the thought. It was probably Derek, or Mezmi come after me. I hissed under my breath, and looked up at the stars, clustered together in little groups.

… _Lily. Stupid… You'd think…she'd… nderstand. …_

I growled under my breath. _Him. _Of course, I could hear further than him. He had to ruin everything. He was ruining my life.

I tried to return to my none-thinking state, and just listened to his voice in the background, hoping he would miss me in the dark. Hoping he wouldn't come in this direction…

But the thoughts grew stronger, until they were comprehendible. He'd had a fight with Lily… about staying here? Why?

I could see his path. It was headed straight under my tree. My lips twitched.

I dropped down straight in front of him, opening my eyes just before I landed, so he couldn't see through them until I did.

He just back, startled. "Makenna?" _Where'd she? How-_

He obviously wasn't used to being snuck up on. I smiled, pleased with myself.

"Where'd you come from?" He demanded.

I looked up, gesturing towards the tree.

He frowned. "Why were you sitting in a tree?"

Why was he walking around by himself at night?

_I asked first. _

Well, I didn't even ask, so get out of my head.

"Why were you in a tree?" He repeated.

I shrugged. "Nice view. You want to see?"

I climbed up and sat back down where I had been before. He hesitated down the bottom, and then shrugged, climbing up.

_Strange. _He looked at me, and I saw myself through his eyes, as I looked over the treetops. He looked away again.

"It is nice."

It sounded so strange, actually hearing him talk- I was so used to, not really _hearing,_ but listening to his mental voice instead…

"Yeah. I come up here when I want to be alone." And he'd ruined it, like he'd ruined everything else.

"Sorry."

"No, I don't mind." _Much. _I added in my head.

He smirked and looked down. "You know, when I was human-"

"You were scared of heights?" I asked disbelievingly.

_Yeah, how 'bout I didn't even bother making conversation?_

I ignored that thought, wondering how long ago 'human' had been for me, exactly. Back in those days, time had seemed to come and go… I frowned when I heard him listening.

_You'll have to get used to it sometime… _He grinned, looking at me.

No, I was thinking of ditching all of next week, going to stay up north with some friends.

He frowned, disappointed. Why? I thought…

_Maybe I'll just miss annoying the hell out of you. _He smirked, running a hand through his blond hair.

Oh, sure.

_Sarcasm's one of your main traits, isn't it? _"Sorry, no. I meant _negative _sarcasm."

I rolled my eyes disbelievingly. Did he ever stop making terrible jokes?

_Nope. That's one of _my _main traits. _

"So why are you leaving?" He asked.

As if he couldn't guess.

_Um… Nope. Still blank over here._

I scowled at him. What a moron.

"Oh, come _on -_ I'm not that bad! You'd leave just 'cause I annoy you?" _You seriously need to learn to not over-react. _He was smirking again_._

I glowered, and started to climb down from the tree. A whole house of crowded thoughts was better than being alone with just his.

"No! Wait." He pleaded. "Please?"

I paused, for some reason. Why the heck should I stay when he'd just annoy me until I ended up strangling him?

He acted as if he hadn't heard that. "I'm sorry. I'm being a jerk. Please don't leave yet."

I hesitated. Was he serious?

"Yes." _That's me, goody two shoes, honest as dirt Riley._

I scowled. Maybe I should just leave.

_Sorry. _

I sat back down, despite myself. Was there any point in running away, if I was just going to see him again tomorrow? For the last time? I might as well put up with his irritating side for now. After all- it wasn't as if I was ever going to see him or his coven again…

I felt the first sign of bitterness I had ever heard in Riley. But then it was gone, and I shook it away.

"What were you fighting with Lily about?" I asked.

_Oh? Who's the eavesdropper now?_

I grimaced uncomfortably. I couldn't help it… _He'd _been the one blabbing about it. I'd just overheard.

_I wasn't _blabbing! _I was thinking- how much did you hear?_

"In my book, thinking and blabbing are very much the same thing." I muttered, watching an owl as it dove on a mouse a mile away.

"How much did you hear?"

You know, Riley, I can easily look now and see your whole argument, if I wanted.

"So why don't you?" he retorted.

I frowned. "That would be… impolite."

_So she wouldn't do it anyway… figures. _

My mouth twisted angrily. Oh yeah? I wouldn't have a problem doing it, stupid jerk.

_Well, she wouldn't do anyway… problems or not. Maybe she _can't _unless I'm thinking about whatever she wants to find out._

Wrong. I forgot about rules and manners, and broke into the argument.

_Lily was sitting on the couch, watching some human program about cooking. I hesitated in the doorway, unsure._

"_What do you _want, _Riley?" She scowled at me, turning around and pausing her program. _

_I grinned at her. "I don't actually understand why you watch that junk. It's not like you'd ever eat anything they cook."_

_She huffed angrily, turning away form me and turning on her program again. I frowned at her… That hadn't exactly gone as planned._

_I shrugged, and sank into the lazyboy next to her. She hissed at me. I pretended to ignore her and watch the program. _

_She grabbed the remote and turned of the T.V _

"_Hey! I was watching that!" I complained in mock-irritation._

"_What do you want Riley?"_

_I pretended to look hurt. "Is it so shocking that I might want to spend time with my little sister?"_

_She scowled at me. _Yes, _she said in her head. _You'd only do that if there was something in it for you.

_I sighed. "Fine. I want you to convince Hamish to let us stay a few more weeks here."_

_She looked horrified. "Do _what _for you?"_

_Hopeless. _

"_You're saying you _me _to ask Hamish to s_tay _here longer? This grubby little town, sadistic vampire neighbors, humans who stare _far _too much for their own good, and on top of everything, with the most pathetic hunting selection I have ever seen? Are you _serious?"

_I shrugged, trying to seem casual about it. "Sure." _

"_You've obviously lost your mind." She said, turning on the T.V again. _

"_Please?" I asked, desperate._

_She stared at me. "Did you just say _please, _Riley? You _have _lost your mind."_

"_Have not." I protested._

"_Do you _like_ hunting deer all the time?"_

"_Well… not really."_

"_Do you _like _humans coming over to our table and asking irritating questions?" _

_I hadn't actually noticed any humans, but I shook my head anyway._

"_And do you honestly even _like _any of those hostile vampires at school?"_

_I hesitated, just for a split second and Lilly's eyes narrowed._

You've got to be kidding me, Riley! If you aren't kidding me, you are so _dead!_

"_I'm kidding you!" I said automatically._

"_No you're not. Who? Which one is it?" _ It's that tall one with the black hair, isn't it? Mokena, or whatever her name is.

_I hesitated again._

"_Oh, Riley!" She shrieked. "You are _so _dead!" She grabbed my wrist before I could get away, shocking me._

"_It's not my fault!" I protested, about to wrench my wrist out of her tight grip. She shocked me again. _

"_You _can't! _For god's sake, she isn't even _interested _in you!" _

"_I _know._"_

"_You can't like her! Then we'll _never _get out of this hellhole!"_

"_Shut up, Lily! Hamish will hear!"_

"_Great! I hope he _does _hear! And then you'll get yelled at, big-time! HAMISH! Derek's cavorting with that mind reading _cow_!"_

"_Lily!" I snarled. "I am not!" _

"_Oh, really? Then why do you want to stay here then. I bet you just love snogging her so much, that you don't care that what we think!"_

"_Lily, shut up!" I swung my fist at her, and she shocked me more painfully than before. I collapsed, but was up immediately._

"_HAMISH!"_

"_Lily, if you don't shut up, I swear to god, that I will kill you!"_

"_Shut up, Derek, you selfish jerk! HAMISH!"_

_I kicked her, and printed out the door. _

_Running away. Like a coward. _

_Stupid Lily._

I submerged from the memory, shocked. Riley shuffled away from me slightly as he heard my mental thoughts begin to form.

I took a deep breath, even though it didn't help- air wasn't a necessity, it just felt wrong.

_Dammit, I didn't think she would actually _look… _I am so dead…_

"Nice to know Lily thinks so highly of my family. Sadistic vampire neighbors? Nice." I muttered, still too shocked to actually think properly.

"Um, yeah…"

His thoughts were nervous. I stood up. "Bye, Riley." I said, and dropped into the trees below.

I ran.

_Please review… I NEED reviews!_

_-mAkEnNa_


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